Thursday, August 24, 2017

Thursday Thirteen

Today is the anniversary of my mother's death from pancreatic cancer. This is also the cancer that killed Patrick Swayze and Steve Jobs. My husband's aunt also died from it.

Here are some facts about this cancer, which is one of the worst kinds of cancer to have.

1. Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all cancers – just 3-6% of those diagnosed survive for five years.

2. During World Pancreatic Cancer Day, 905 people across the globe will die from pancreatic cancer.

3. Survival has improved for most cancers over the last 40 years but not for pancreatic cancer.

4. Early diagnosis is key: If patients are diagnosed in time for surgery, their chance of surviving 5 years or more increases ten-fold.

5. Pancreatic cancer has been underfunded for decades and receives less than 2% of overall cancer research funding.

6. Pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer in the world, with 338,000 new cases diagnosed in 2012.

7. Pancreatic cancer is the 7th most common cause of cancer death across the world.

8. Pancreatic cancer is more common in developed countries but it is on the rise in developing countries like Africa and India.

9. Pancreatic cancer is nearly always diagnosed too late with 80% of pancreatic cancer patients having terminal disease with an average life expectancy of a mere 4-6 months.

10. The pancreas lies behind the stomach and in front of the spine. It works to help the body use and store energy from food by producing hormones to control blood sugar levels and digestive enzymes to break down food.

11. Pancreatic cancer occurs when abnormal cells in the pancreas grow out of control, forming a mass of tissue called a tumor.

12. Symptoms of pancreatic cancer can be very vague and depend on whether the tumor is in the head, body or tail of the pancreas. Abdominal pain is a symptom in about 70% of pancreatic cancer cases and jaundice (also known as icterus) occurs in about 50% of cases.

13. Pancreatic cancer affects men and women equally.

Information from http://ecpc.org/edu/pancreas/159-edu/pancreas/249-15-key-facts-on-pancreatic-cancer

_________
 
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 514th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Eclipse Photos

There are pictures of the sun/eclipse alone. I'll do a second post showing the things that went on to get this done.

The full sun around 11 a.m.

The eclipse around 2 p.m.

We had cloud cover off and on during the event. This was taken through some thin clouds.

About 2/3 gone, probably around 2:15 p.m.



At or close to the 90% coverage we were going to get here in SW VA.




The moon starting to move on past.



We had almost total cloud cover for the latter part of the eclipse.


Monday, August 21, 2017

Preparing for the Eclipse

Today is the big day for the total eclipse in the USA. We are in the 90% partial eclipse range, so won't see the total eclipse but will have a near-full partial instead.

We have purchased solar glasses (Amazon has told us not to use the ones we bought, so we got others, but they both say the same thing on them). I purchased solar film that I had hoped to somehow use on my Nikon Coolpix P500, because it is my favorite camera and I am most familiar with its settings, but there is no way to affix the solar film without it causing an issue with the camera. So I have decided instead to use my D3200 with a 200mm lens on it. The lens is not what I wanted; the Coolpix has a far superior zoom. Plus the D3200 is a more expensive camera and I'd rather not burn out the sensors. My other option is my Nikon D40, which is my oldest DSLR, but it doesn't allow you to take pictures through the monitor and I feel like I need to look at the sun through the camera monitor, not the eye piece. Plus it doesn't automatically focus anymore. It works fine with a manual focus but part of it is broken.

My husband has made two cereal box things that allow you to look at the spot and see the moon coverage, so I will at least have an idea of when to go try to shoot photos. I intend to also take photos of the area around us, just to see what happens. I want to go in the woods in the back, for example, while the eclipse is about halfway, just to see what kind of shadows are around me.

Wish me luck. This is all new stuff to me, and to be honest I do not know the D3200 as well as I should because I haven't fooled with enough, so I am having doubts about my ability to get it to do what I want it to. We shall see.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Sunday Stealing: Something Different

Sunday Stealing

1. What is a normal thing that took you an embarrassingly long time to learn?

A. Cooking. I am still learning how to cook. We don't starve, but we do not eat gourmet, either.

2. In what ways are you old-fashioned?

A. I still believe that people are inherently good and I say please, thank you, yes ma'am, and no sir.

3. What is the best sandwich you've ever eaten? Where did you get it? What made it so delicious?

A. I think the best sort-of sandwich I've ever had was the chicken salad at White Oak Tea, which was a local tea house. It was great because the chicken salad was made without huge lumps of chicken, and it had things like cranberries and other little goodies in it.

4. What are you currently not bragging about that you should totally brag about?

A. How many steps I am managing to do on my Fitbit. It is not the 10,000 steps one aims for, but for someone with my health issues, I'm doing well. (Update: this morning I received a notice that I've walked 250 miles according to Fitbit since I got it, which was back in late April.)

5. What food have you never tasted and are most interested in trying?

A. Something French. I don't know what it would be. I've had escargot so it would have to be something besides that.

6. What history facts were you surprised to learn because it was never covered in school?

A. When I went to college and we studied the 1800s in the United States, and how the government stole land from the Native Americans and did not live up to treaties, I was, well, not surprised, exactly, but more like angry that I'd been taught the narrative that our government only did good things and never did anything wrong.

7. What is something that you waited entirely too long to start or stop doing? What made you say "Why did I wait so long?"

A. Going to the doctor about health concerns.

8. What socially expected thing do you hate doing the most? What thing about polite society really grinds your gears?

A. I hate to shake hands. I dislike germs. When I was working as a news reporter, I was expected to shake hands with every county official. I would do it and go straight to the washroom to wash my hands. Every. Single. Meeting. I also think that black tie is overdoing it for most things. It looks pretty on other people but I am not much on wearing it.

9. What is something about your city that I should know if I'm going to visit? What is the hidden "must see" that you always tell friends and visitors to not miss?


A. I think I'd send you up to Roaring Run to hike the trail and see the waterfall and the remains of the old iron furnaces.

10. What do you miss most about childhood?

A. Nothing.

11. What "fact" did you learn in school that is not true or no longer true?

A. That's a loaded question, isn't it? But I will go with Pluto was a planet. Pluto has been downgraded and is no longer a planet, but I think that poor dwarf planet has been short changed.

12. What's your favorite piece of useless trivia?

A. My county was founded in 1770 and named after Norborne Berkley, Baron de Botetourt and Governor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770.

13. What's your best go to homemade "lazy" meal?

A. A baked potato.

14. What's the title of this current chapter in your life?

A. The Criminal Got Away (I'm thinking of the doctor who messed up my surgery with this title.)

15. What is a habit or practice that you learned from your childhood that you didn't realize was "weird" until you were an adult?

A. I tend to roll my eyes at stupidity. It's a bad "tell" and one that I can't seem to stop. These days my eyes are practically rolling around in my head like a hamster in a ball.

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Saturday 9: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Saturday 9: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

. . . because Joy recommended it

Here's a Paul McCartney version of the title song.

1) The Beatles recorded this after they had taken a three-month hiatus from working together as a band. Do you find you're sharp after taking time off? Or does it take you a while to get back into the swing of things in your day-to-day life?

A. It depends on how good the time off was. A stressful time off does not do me much good.

2) During those three months off, John Lennon made a movie called How I Won the War. What's the last movie you watched? Did you view it at a theater, on TV, or from a device like a computer or tablet?

A. I last watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on the TV.

3) Paul McCartney and George Harrison both used their time off to make new and different music. Paul composed instrumentals for a movie soundtrack while George studied sitar with Ravi Shankar. Ringo Starr spent those three months with his wife and their two little boys. If you had three months to spend doing anything you wanted, and money was no object, would you try something new (like Paul and George) or just kick back and relax (like Ringo)?

A. I would like to travel a little and see some new things. Actually I think a 3-month cruise that takes in Italy and Greece sounds nice.

4) Paul recalls what fun it was to dress up in Edwardian-era costumes for the album cover. When did you last attend a costume party? What did you wear?

A. I do not think I have ever attended a costume party.

5) Paul says he came up with the name "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" when Beatle friend Mal Evans told him about this great San Francisco band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. Paul hadn't heard their music yet, but he loved the sound of their six-word band name. Soon everyone would hear of Big Brother. Do you know who Big Brother's famous lead singer was?

A. Janis Joplin. Didn't have to look that one up at all.

6) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band appeared on the Billboard charts for 175 weeks. Is this album in your collection?

A. I think the version with Elton John and the BeeGees (wasn't it the BeeGees?) is in my collection, not the original.

7) The Beatles are among the top-selling artists of all time in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. Would you like to visit Africa?

A. Sure, if I were healthy and somebody could give me really strong sunscreen and somehow keep the bugs from eating me alive. I hear the drums echoing tonight; she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation. She's coming in 12:30 flight, the moonlit wings reflect me towards salvation. . . . I bless the rains down in Africa.

8) 50 years ago, when Sgt. Pepper was first released, the average price for gas was 33¢/gallon. When did you last fill up your gas tank? Do you remember how much it cost?

A. $1.96/gallon. I filled it up on Wednesday.

9) Random question: Are most of your married friends happily married?

A. To my knowledge most of them are, yes. What goes on behind closed doors generally stays there, as it should unless life is in danger. I can think of two married couples with issues, but most of my married friends seem happy with one another.

_____________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.


Thursday, August 17, 2017

Thursday Thirteen

1. Molds are fungi that can be found everywhere. Thousands of mold species exist, many of which have not been scientifically documented. Fungi and other primitive life-forms go back at least 2.8 billion years. They are one of the oldest life-forms on earth.

2. Molds grow best in warm, damp, and humid conditions, and spread and reproduce by making spores. Mold spores can survive harsh environmental conditions, such as dry conditions, that do not support normal mold growth.

3. Here are some common indoor molds: Cladosporium, Penicillium, Alternaria, and Aspergillus. (They sound like a venereal disease, a cure, an alternative universe, and a vegetable, don't they?)

4. People who are sensitive to molds (which is probably everybody, they just don't react as strongly as others), experience symptoms like nasal stuffiness, eye irritation, wheezing, or skin irritation.

5. Severe reactions frequently occur among workers exposed to large amounts of molds in occupational settings, such as farmers working around moldy hay.

6. Severe reactions include fever and shortness of breath. Some people with chronic lung illnesses, such as obstructive lung disease, may develop mold infections in their lungs.

7. In 2004 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) linked indoor mold exposure to upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people. It is also linked to asthma.

8. Molds are found year round and growth is encouraged by warm and humid conditions. Outdoors they can be found in shady, damp areas or places where leaves or other vegetation is decomposing. Indoors they can be found where humidity levels are high, such as basements or showers. (Don't kid yourself. Mold can be ANYWHERE. Last night I found mold underneath my chair mat (on a hardwood floor) in my office. No clue how it got there. My supposition: dead spiders and high humidity. It was the last place I would have thought to find mold.)

9. Sensitive people should avoid areas that have mold, such as compost piles, cut grass, and wooded areas.

10. To control mold in homes, control humidity levels and ventilate showers and cooking areas. (Clean the house occasionally. You may be surprised at what you find behind or under something.) Humdity levels should be no higher than 50% all day long. Air conditioning and/or a dehumidifier may be required.

11. Mold growth can be removed from hard surfaces with commercial products, soap and water, or a bleach solution of no more than 1 cup of household laundry bleach in 1 gallon of water. Be careful with bleach, and use gloves and protective eye wear. You may also need to wear a breathing mask.

12. Other hints: make sure your home is adquately ventialted, including exhaust fans in the bathrooms and kitchen. Add mold inhibitors to paints before application. Clean with mold-killing products. Don't put carpet in bathrooms or basements.

13. Other areas known to have high mold issues include antique shops, greenhouses, saunas, farms, mills, construction areas, flower shops, and summer cottages

Information from https://www.cdc.gov/mold/faqs.htm#affect.

This information is for educational purposes only and should not be relied upon for mold issues in your home, workplace, school, or other areas. See a specialist if you have concerns.
_________
 
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 513th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

The Symbolic Scarf

I made my third (and maybe my last) scarf not long ago. It is straight knitting, no pearling. I still haven't learned how to do that although I understand it is easy to do once you get the hang of it.

This scarf is solid blue and I used acrylic yarn. I made it for a close friend who recently completed an adventure around the U.S., hitting all of the four corners of the country and her 49th state. By four corners I mean the farthest places north, south, east, and west on the mainland. I am not exactly sure what those were for her as I found several definitions of what it could be on the Internet. But at any rate, she's happy and reached her goal, and that is all that matters.

I wanted to put buttons on the scarf that were shaped like the USA, but after looking at literally thousands of buttons on Etsy and other sites, I could not find what I wanted. I gave up and went with simple, putting red and white buttons on the end to symbolize the four corners.


The scarf in its entirety.

The end with two buttons.

The middle of the scarf

The bind-off end. I redid it several times but could not make it look as nice as the cast-on end.

I wasn't pleased with this but it was the way it ended up.
Knitting is supposed to be comforting but I do not find it very meditative. I think I am too much of a perfectionist, and especially if I am making something for someone else, then I want it perfect. This is far from perfect but it was my best effort. Sometimes you simply don't do everything well, and I think for me knitting is probably one of those things. I may try some other patterns - I have some cotton yarn and a pattern for making dish cloths that I would like to try - but I think I am done with scarves for a while.

I have turned to crochet for the moment, and we'll see what comes of that.

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: Make a Difference Today

1. What is the favorite piece of art you own?

P Buckley Moss painting of Hollins Main

A. A painting of one of the building on the Hollins campus, where I went to college.

2. What is the most expensive bill you paid last month?

A. The credit card. I charge everything and pay it off each month to get the cash back award.

3. What’s the last thing you apologized for?

A. I tend to apologize for everything, so I am not sure.

4. If you could do today over, would you change anything?

A. I would certainly redo Friday and Saturday over for Charlottesville, VA. Today, Sunday, is still early. Who knows what deceit and hate will bring as the sun rises.

5. What is the largest TV screen in your house?

A. I think it's 50" or something like that.

6. What did you buy today?

A. I haven't bought anything since Friday, when I picked up a prescription at the pharmacy.

7. I wish I had ____

A. The ability to transform the world into the place it could be, instead of what it is.

8. How many photos did you take today?

A. I took the one above of the artwork.

9. Last thing you wanted and didn’t get.

A. A smartphone.

10. What was the last new thing you tried?

A. I checked out some MACs at Best Buy last weekend.

11. Who is your hero?

A. My husband.

12. Today I feel really secure knowing ____

A. I do not feel secure.

13. Whose life did you make a difference in today?

A. Yesterday I made a difference; this morning it is 8:10 a.m. and I'm not awake enough to
make a difference.

14. What would have made today perfect?

A. Today would be perfect if I could find a way to make it to an event I'd like attend. Unfortunately, it is on terrain that I don't think I can traverse alone. I need an escort, and no one is available.

15.  Did you thank anybody today?

A. I did yesterday. I thank my brother for calling me.

Bonus: If you were a Muppet, which would you be?

The one that lives in the trash can.

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Saturday 9: Start Me Up

Saturday 9: Start Me Up (1981)

. . . because Kwizgiver recommended The Rolling Stones

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. (My husband's favorite band!)

1) That's a goat wearing a high heel (in the picture on the album in which this song appears). What's on your feet as you answer these questions?

A. My Apex sneakers, which are white and fairly new. They are considered a shoe for diabetics, though I am not diabetic. I do, however, have problems with my feet and these work better than anything else I have found.

2) More fashion: In the video for this song, Mick is wearing white pants with an elastic waistband. Are you wearing a belt as you answer these questions?

A. Nope.

3) In this song, Mick pleads, "Don't make a grown man cry." When is the last time you shed a tear?

A. A few weeks ago.

4) Keith Richard has said this is a song he could play "forever and ever." What in your life doesn't get old, no matter how often you do it?

A. Writing. Talking/listening to people.

5) While The Rolling Stones enjoy performing songs, like this one, from Tattoo You, Mick Jagger has dismissed the songs from their 1967 album Their Satanic Majesties Request as "rubbish." Do you have a favorite Rolling Stones song?

A. I think it's a tie between Miss You and Beast of Burden.

6) This recording of "Start Me Up" features a cowbell. Do you remember which Saturday Night Live host made, "More cowbell!" a catchphrase?

A. No clue, sorry.

7) Bassist Bill Wyman once said he thought he should have been a archivist because he loved to make lists. Do you have a to-do list?

A. I have three to-do list programs on my computer. They all monitor different activities and go off at different times. On top of that, Alexa on my Kindle Fire tells me when I've been sitting for an hour and should stand up and walk around. My whole life revolves around bells and whistles.

8) Mick finds it hard to stand still when he sings, not only on stage but also in the studio. The engineer for this song reports that Mick would have to run across the room to get back to the microphone for his vocal. Are you more fidgety, or still?

A. Still. That's why I'm overweight and need a Fitbit.

9) Random question: Do you believe men are inherently more sensible than women?

A. Oh, hell no. I'll even say that again: hell no! I know many more men then women who make bags of hammers look like they have more sense.


_____________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Friday, August 11, 2017

Not a Riddle

Last evening, my brother called me. "What does your Thursday 13 mean?" he wanted to know.

For me, it was a very odd Thursday 13. Just words, really.

"I don't know what it means," I told him.

"I have spent an hour trying to figure out what you did!" he exclaimed. "I was sure you had some hidden message in there."

There was a hidden message, I suppose, but not one that anyone picked up on. The message would have been, "I have a bad headache and a lot going on, I have not missed a Thursday 13 in 511 weeks, and I need to stick something up on my blog."

So I put up the first words that came to mind, taking maybe all of a single minute to drop a few lines. I did put a disclaimer at the bottom that said I didn't know what any of it meant. I'm pretty sure that in the 9.8 years I have been doing Thursday 13, yesterday's entry was the worst one I've ever done.

I went for quantity, not quality, and it showed.

Quality always wins over quantity. If you are a rich man but your money came to you in ways that were not quality, then your money ultimately turns you into boorish brazen-faced baggage, and (generally speaking) not a person of quality. A person of quality is of course not quantifiable, since "quality" in and of itself is subjective, but I think there are enough examples of spoiled rich brats roaming around to make the point. They didn't earn it. They are not nice people. They have the quantity, but not the quality.

Monies earned through work, whether that's sweat under the armpits or sweat of the brow from thinking too much, become quality funds. When I was in college, many of my professors enjoyed teaching older students such as myself because we weren't there on somebody else's dime - we were paying for our education. We knew the quality of the education and the value it would bring to our lives.

On Game of Thrones the other week, Greyworm, an eunuch, took off his clothes and made love with the person he called "his weakness," Missandei. Lots of talk on Facebook pooh-poohed that scene, saying an eunuch could not make love. They seemed to think there were no pleasure to be found in touches of another kind. Quality, not quantity, mattered in that particular TV scene, and it showed quality. Love is not quantifiable. Love is about quality.

Facebook pursues quantity over quality. Among the younger generation, especially, the more "friends" you have, the more "likes" your post receives, the better it is. But friendship is not a number and quantity has nothing to do with it. You can know 1,000 people but if none will come to your aid when you need them, you really have nothing. If one person comes to sit with you when you are sick, or bring you chicken soup, then you have quality. You have a friend who matters.

Quantity is absolute. It's math, empirical, and undebatable.

Twelve apples rest on the table. That's quantity.

Ten apples have worms in them. That's quality. Which ones do you want to eat?

I always hated assignments that were word-number oriented. "Write 1,000 word essay on The Grapes of Wrath" ultimately means a teacher ends up with a lot of looping logic or indigestible sentences that say next to nothing. I'd rather read a 300-word quality essay on the book than 1,000-word essay that says nothing. But quality is not quantifiable, and if a grade is the ultimate goal, then you ask for 1,000 words.

As a writer and blogger, I try to offer up posts of quality. Sometimes those posts are simply interesting photos. Occasionally they are posts that maybe shouldn't have been posted - too personal, perhaps - but my writing, in general, is good, readable, occasionally funny, and almost always thoughtful. Hopefully, it has relevance to the human experience. Sometimes, I hope, it makes people think.

Yesterday, I failed in the quality area. For that I am sorry, and I apologize to you, my readers. I know better and generally do better.

I especially apologize to my brother, because I think I let him down the most.

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Thursday Thirteen

1. singular or plural

2. me you I us

3. trust

4. 7 kingdoms

5. 1,000 enemies

6. showmanship showdown

7. nursing in the open versus open carry

8. three little Indians

9. nirvana in sunshine

10. beer, mead, wine, whisky

11. soul sickness soured soaring sunk

12. pain in the buttocks or pain in the neck

13. simplicity sometimes or never at all


If you figure out what any of that means, tell me, because I'm not sure myself. But there are 13 things there.


_________
 
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 512th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Wednesday, August 09, 2017

Tuesday, August 08, 2017

Aprons, Mops and . . . What?

I do not consider myself a prude, although I suppose others might. I mean, I'm 54 years old and married. I don't go into the closet and undress. However, I don't subject myself to movies or books that are rated R, generally, as I do not care for violence. I did not read 50 Shades of Grey and have no desire to. Maybe I am a prude. So what.

Last night I was flipping through a catalog I received in the mail, one of those that has a bit of everything. This one had some old-timey type stuff, like mops, aprons, flowery things. Stuff you don't really need but which may or may not work to make life a little easier. I marked a page because it had a holder for a handicap placard on it and I'd been looking for those. This was the first time I'd seen one. I thought I might end up ordering something if I could find something else I wanted.

I flipped to the middle spread in the catalog and lo, there were two pages full of women's sexual aids plastered there. I did a double take. I went from aprons to "massage toys" in one turn of a page.

The next page went back to mops. I was amused, bemused, and befuddled. Intrigued, I checked out the website, too, to see what was online. Both male and female sexual aids were available under "health and beauty."

I have never bought from this company and I don't know why I received the catalog. It is the kind of thing I would have expected to see in my grandmother's house, actually. Except for that middle page part. I'm pretty sure Grandma's catalogs did not have those kinds of items in their middle pages.

Then I started wondering. What if they did? What if it was all in some secret code, back in the 1950s, when the catalogs came? Maybe dirty things were in plain sight, hidden on page 56 of the old Sears & Robuck, if you knew where to look.

I envision my grandmothers fainting at the sight of the middle page of the catalog I have now tossed into the recycling bin (sans my name, of course), but hey, they probably had their own thing, too. Things we never knew about. Things we still don't know about, information that has died with a generation. I doubt they were prudes. I'm here, aren't I?

Was there a reason besides toilet paper economy that led to big fat catalogs being carried out to the johnny houses of the day? Hmm.

We may never know.
 

Monday, August 07, 2017

Baby Deer






Sunday, August 06, 2017

Sunday Stealing: Freckles

Sunday Stealing: Freckles and Other Oddities


Do you have freckles? No.

Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? Open.

Can you whistle? Yes.

Did you wake up cranky today? Yes.
 
What is your Zodiac sign? Gemini.

What is your eye color? Hazel.

Do you take a vitamin daily? Yes.

Do you sing in the shower? Yes.

What did you have for lunch? Yesterday I had a chicken salad sandwich.

Do you watch the Olympics? Yes.

Do you prefer to swim in a pool or in the ocean? Pool. Actually, I'd just like a shower.

Do you prefer bottled water or tap water? I drink both.

Do you work better with or without music?  It depends on what I am doing.

Can you curl your tongue? Yes.

Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? The cover of a book.

Have you ever caught a butterfly? Yes.

Are you easily influenced by other people? No.

Do you have strange dreams? Yes.

Do you like going on airplanes? I haven't been on one since 1993.

Name one movie that made you cry. Wonder Woman.

Do you like peanuts or sunflower seeds? Yes to both.

If I handed you a concert ticket right now, who would you want the performer to be? Fleetwood Mac.

Are you a picky eater? I have food allergies, so yes.

Are you a heavy sleeper? No.

Do you fear thunder / lightning? No.

Do you like your music loud? It depends on the song.

Would you rather carve pumpkins or wrap presents? Wrap presents.

What’s the next movie you want to see in the theaters? The Justice League.

Have you ever been on the computer for 5 hours straight? Yes.

Do you like meeting new people? Yes.

What are three things you did today? It's early, but I have charged my Fitbit, drank a cup of tea, and kissed my husband.

What do you wear to bed? A nightgown.

Do you wear jeans or sweats more? Jeans.

Name something that relaxes you. Coloring.